SERVICES

Development programmes

Arctic Business Concept (ABC)

The main objective of the project is to enhance the competitiveness and growth of the SME service companies operating in the field of industry and mining. Other specific objectives are strategic and supporting sustainable development of the refining of the natural resources, overall development of the businesses’ operation environment and development of modern clusters involving multidisciplinary actors both in regional and EU level. The objectives will be achieved through work packages planned in the collaboration with stakeholders in several meetings among mining service providers -network, two stakeholder workshops and individual conversations. Project is in on line with Arctic specialisation program and Lapland agreement. Project consortium presents widely different stakeholders and is aiming to have synergic development approach at plac in Lapland.

The project and its actions have been prepared in co-operation with the operators from several different branches in Lapland. The outcome of the project: Lapland will make progress in its goals to become the pioneer and model demonstration region in the modern cluster development and also to provide good example in the EU context in refinement of natural resources.

As a outputs of the project the Lapland is becoming the leading region in the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. The service companies as well as the mining and other industry operators benefit of the image of Lapland. For their’s part they also support in strengthening the image. In addition there will be developing a strong and valued modern cluster formed by industry and mining service operators and their interest groups that benefit and gain the sustainable growth of industry in the entire area of Barents.

The overall programme aims to improve the competitiveness of industrial services businesses in Lapland. The project activities support Lapland’s common industrial development strategy, and they are carried out in cooperation with local industrial and industrial services enterprises, various units of the Lapland University Consortium and business developers.

The programme encourages industrial services companies to continuously develop their operations and to further refine their products and services. The actors’ readiness to both identify and utilise new business opportunities and to transcend the borders between business sectors is improved through the introduction of customer needs, market trends, new perspectives and public sector services.

Furthermore, companies and actors are encouraged to participate in network-orientated development and pilot projects dealing with the attraction of customer interest through industrial competence, intelligent industrial solutions and business activities. This is done by promoting the implementation of new technology and development methods as well as the commercialisation of development ideas and the clustering of actors and potential partners .

Other aims include the promotion of the exports of industrial services companies, the networking of the actors and their marketing outside the region, and the location of companies and experts in Lapland through the use of a common marketing communications brand and tools such as Partnerbook.

By-product flows of Arctic industries

The compact Kemi-Tornio area hosts a globally unique conglomeration of wood, steel and mining industry actors, all within a radius of 25 kilometres. It provides an excellent innovation platform for the piloting of symbiosis products and the industrial ecosystem in Arctic conditions. A waste centre located at the area adds the finishing touch to the setting.

The beginning of the year saw the launch of an analysis into the by-product flows of Arctic industries. Its primary aim was to determine the possibilities to utilise local business potential on a wider scale. The project also aims to put together a network of actors consisting of service provider companies, industrial customers, experts, educational institutions and authorities.

The goal is to identify by-product flows with business potential, to find opportunities for their utilisation and to locate actors who will create new businesses sprouting from the associated ecological niches. The project also looks to identify opportunities relating to symbiosis products, or products resulting from the combination of several by-product flows. This technique is used to achieve better end products.

Tangible project measures include the documentation of the by-product and waste flows generated in the production process (chemical and physical properties), the analysis of their utilisation opportunities, the determination and exploration of potential objects of utilisation, the location and motivating of potential actors, and marketing, technology and logistics surveys.